Vietnam is divided into three regions including: North, Center and South. On Tet holiday, although all of the areas and regions of the country bear the same culture, custom and tradition of Vietnam, it contains some differences among regions and between the North and South especially. Due to the distinction of weather and life style, Tet holiday in the North and South has some differences contributing to make the variety and plenty in culture and custom of Vietnam.
In the first place, we can easily find that the traditional flowers on Tet holiday between two regions are different. In the North, peach blossom is the traditional flower to display on Tet holiday. The flower with pink color as the weather in the North is dry and cold during the time of Tet. Unlike that, in the South, the popular flower on Tet holiday is yellow apricot blossom as the weather is hot. If Saigon people bear the hot weather during the time of Tet holiday, it is very cold, dry and sometimes haze in the North. Two regions have the completely different weather condition. It is also the reason to make the difference in color of flower though the shape of peach blossom and yellow apricot blossom is similar.
Peach blossom in the North
Yellow apricot blossom in the South
In the second place, as we know that Chung cake is the traditional food on Vietnamese Tet holiday, but it also has the dissimilarity between regions in food. In the North, Chung cake is the traditional food used to honor the ancestors during three first days of Tet holiday which is made with glutinous rice, pork, mung beans, onions wrapped by banana leaves or Dong leaves, then tied with a bamboo string to make a square shape. However, in the South, Tet cake is the popular food to honor the ancestors which is in the form of rounded pipe with mung beans, pork, etc in the middle representing vigor and perpetuity. In fact, in the North, the Vietnamese culture is demonstrated more deeply and clearly than in the South. Therefore, Chung cake in the North is closed to rice culture of Vietnamese. In the South, it has some changes to make Tet cake. In addition, in the North, frozen pork with field mushroom is a popular dish in the meal of every family due to the cold and dry weather in the region. In the South, the dish is cooked with the coconut milk due to the hot weather.
Chung cake and Tet cake
In the final place, the difference is illustrated in the way of displaying the five-fruit tray. In the South, the tray is often displayed with custard-apple, coconut, papaya and mango meaning "pray for enough to use" (cầu vừa đủ xài). In the North, the tray contains pomelo, banana, mandarin, mango and chilli. The difference may cause from the plenty and variety of fruits between regions. The fruits in the South is more various and plentiful than in the North. So people in this region will have a lot of fruits to display on the tray, unlike in the North, people often use shelf-planted fruits to display on the tray.
Five-fruit tray in the North
Five-fruit tray in the South
In conclusion, though there are the differences in flower, dishes and five-fruit tray between regions, Vietnam always keeps the culture and custom of Tet holiday in all the regions of the country. And thought it is in the past, present or future, everything of Vietnamese Tet holiday keeps the same and it will be maintained by time.
